Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 samples gallery

We got our hands on the recently announced Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH OIS at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. It's an ultra-fast portrait prime for Micro Four Thirds that offers an 85mm equivalent field of view. We shot some quick samples mounted on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3, including an aperture progression series.

Comments

Maybe it's me but I can't really understand this strong, generalized need for shallow DOF that emerges from some posts. It is desirable effect, sure, and sometimes it can help taking superb images. Personally, I thought small DOF was a must have when I had no idea on how to compose the background but I ended up closing the aperture on APSC to shoot events and portraits to make sure to get more than one eye in focus. I won't buy this lens as the Olympus 45 1.8 and 75 1.8 can give smaller DOF than I need (and plenty!) but, judging from the low aberrations I see on the sample P1090035.acr on the left side, it may be a great tool for some. My Nikon 50 1.4 was not as good at f1.4.

I buy cheaper manual focus nokton 42.5mm even for $1,600. cost is no matter but prove of worth of lens go beyond namesake. you can check nokton 42.5mm pictures. compare pictures taken with both, pseudo Leica does not have character and overall impressive result to justify price. if they make nokton AF, I even buy it for more amount than pseudo-Leica.

You did some intense testing or what? Or do you judge just from the first samples published here, handheld in low light? Or from our warped theories obout prices being connected to amount of glass surface?

@cameracist, I look samples already from other websites and pictures does not strike me with amazement. as mentioned, cost and price does not matter to me. I don't care if pseudo-Leica is priced higher like $2,000 but need to prove worth. I even prefer Nokton 0.95 over this pseudo-Leica lens not because it is cheaper because I'm willing to pay even if it is $1,600. what I'm liking is result I see from lens, not numbers. if Pana only did pricing basing on brand sake, then it is big disappointment for brand sake.

I just googled around and found out this portrait taken with 50/1.8 lens and D5100 body (which costs around $600 for the set) - which obviously have better background blur and good enough sharpness, at least for portrait.

I'm curious why you hate this lens and camera system so much. It obviously isn't for you. I shot with a Canon for years and, while the image quality from my T2i at higher ISOs is a bit better than what I can get on my EM-1 or E-PL5, I chose to switch over completely to Oly for the following reasons:1. I love the lens selection. I get small, fast pancake lenses that are nice and sharp. The 20mm f1.7 really floats my boat and the 12-40 2.8 is a great little lens. My 70mm 1.8 blows the Canon 85 1.8 out of the water, especially given that it focuses correctly.2. The AF is better than what I was getting from my Canon. I can autofocus with the 75 1.8, wide open, where I could not with the T2i.3. Most of Canon's top of the line lenses are way more expensive than the m4/3 equivalent. The 24-70 2.8L is $2300 and doesn't even give me IS. I bought my E-M1 AND 12-40 for less. The Canon 50 1.2 is $1600, so it's about the same.

The bottom line is, I've been shooting digital cameras for ten years. I like the lenses that are available for the M4/3 bodies, which will continue to improve. I knew the tradeoffs and I still bought into the system. I think it's great that they are offering an f1.2 portrait lens. Will I buy it? No. I have the shallow depth of field thing taken care of with the 75, and I can shoot in daylight wide open and it's still razor sharp (and in focus). Different cameras suit different people. I don't want a full frame or APS-C cam. I'm not going to crusade against them. There are some great benefits and drawbacks for both. I bought into m4/3 for the lenses, and they keep delivering.

It is downright absurd to compare m43 lenses to FF ones, as they are on totally different league. Yes 24-70L is expensive, but it is a huge professional grade lens that is very useful for many situations. For example you can take great portrait with its tele end, actually WAY better than this $1600 portrait prime. I think even midrange f4 or f4.5 lenses are still way better in terms of sharpness and DOF control than top of the line m43 lenses. And there's an affordable, vert decent f1.8 zoom for APS-C by the way.

I've been shooting DSLR since 2.6MP D1, and currently own both m43 and FF system. My father also uses m43 and has actually bought all of $$$$ m43 lenses, I have seen every images he took in 100% magnification, so I know what I am saying.

Take a look at P&S cameras - some has 10X f2.8 zoom lens with big brand name on it (leica, schneider, zeiss etc). You won't compare them m43 lenses, will you?

it's a good choice to go with Nikon f/1.8G primes for both high image quality and good cost performance but I highly recommend D800, more expensive but many 4/3" users end in spending more money on low quality high premium cameras.

50/1.8 on D5100 works as a 39/1.4 lens on 4/3"so it's slightly shorter and slightly slower than 42.5/1.2

The idea that two lenses aren't comparable is laughable. I can compare the 24-70L and the 12-40 because they have the same field of view. Each lens has its strengths and weaknesses. The m4/3 lens is smaller, cheaper, and image stabilized. The 24-70 on a full frame gives you the best image quality, shallower depth of field at a greater cost in terms of weight and money. And no IS. Smaller, lighter, and cheaper sways me over to m4/3. There. I just compared them.

As far as your P&S lens comment, the lenses are comparable (because they can be compared) but I don't compare them because the cameras they ride around on don't meet my needs. The m4/3 system and full frame would fall into the "meets my needs" category, thus the comparison.

the DoF is not too bad at f/2.4 equiv. and the light gathering capacity is okay as a low cost lens.

the sensor is small for even in adequate light 4/3" doesn't have the capacity at base ISO to accommodate enough photo-electrons for higher image quality, which is well illustrated in DPReview's sample shots.

Your "light gathering ability" is an ill concept and the aperture hole and its size is not everything. It is hard and expensive to make sharp and properly corrected lens for any format, and you do not know the manufacturing process of the glass elements, the amount of output control and the production run of this lens - there are more important (and expensive) things than size of aperture hole. Every chinese company can do an F.0.95 lens for cheap, but the quality of the leica is in something else!

Look at your own logic: Like, how does it come the pentax FA limiteds are so expensive? They are just 1.8 or 1.9!!! Their "light gathring ability" is the same as of the lowly canon 50 1.8!!! And the F2.8 macro lenses? Outrageous prices, look at their tiny aperture holes!!!

According to LensTip the edge resolution of the Olympus 45/1.8 is 46 lpmm @ F/1.8. This number is excellent and on a par with the Nocticron but at the much larger aperture of 1.2. However, remember that it is infinitely more difficult to design a super-fast lens with aperture 1.2 than a lens with aperture 1.8.

Even if you divide by two the resolution of Nocticron, it still beats the Canon 85/1.2, virtually equals the Summicron 75/2.0, and is only a little worse than the Zeiss Otus. Remember, too, that the Nocticron is 1/2 stop faster, has AF and IS, is much smaller and lighter, and costs only 1/3 of the price of the Otus.

He says "is only a little worse than the Zeiss Otus". And he is right, in equivalency terms. In absolute numbers, the lens is actually better (if "better" means better resolution, which is not everything), but on a smaller area.

The bottom line is that this is an awesome lens. Though I'm hearing noise from the FF supporters who can't accept that m4/3 is here to say and from the typical Oly fan boys who won't and never will give any props on Panasonic products. Miserable people...

@rcjim , I have both Panasonic and Olympus lenses. The noises from some of the FF crowd relate to paying £1299 for a lens that gives you less DOF control than an F1.8 lens on APS or an F2.4 FF. The irony is we see numerous posts in the mFT forum along the lines of who need shallow DOF, shallow DOF is a crutch etc etc. A 50mm F1.8 lens on Nikon APS gives you a 75mm equiv AOV, with the same DOF as an F1.2 on mFT , or maybe you want a longer lens the 85mm F1.8 on APS gives you the equiv AOV as a FF 125mm with the same DOF control as an F1.2 mFT lens. To put that £1299 price into perspective I can get the D7100 { a well featured weather sealed, camera with better C-AF/tracking than any MFT, a better sensor than any MFT with both the lenses above for just £40 more. There are great lenses in mFT among them I have the 25mm F1.4,60mm macro, and the 75mm F1.8 .The truly excellent 75mm is literally half the price of the new Panasonic.

From the samples I have seen I have no doubt about the IQ this lens can deliver - crisp & sharp. But I for some reason expected more in the DOF department.

If I were in a market for a fast portrait lens for m43 I would have hard time to pick this lens over the Voigtlander 0.95 one - if I would be able to get by without AF (I would, none of my cameras have AF :) )

yabokkie: 42.5/1.2 is worth 300? Since when? And where? I want one!(I know what you mean - you try to calculate the price only from aperture hole size. That is one of the absolutely most stupidest things I read for a very very long time)

I agree, while close up and Head shoulders portraits are important to showcase for this lense, half body and full body portraits should also be possible @ F1.2. Though the sample shots from CES are plain bad lighting and often too far back.

More than any quality test, what I like is how usable this lens is wide open at f/1.2 + OIS; even in that unprofessional lighting setup giving a fast exposure of roughly 1/200 sec at base ISO .. across the gallery.

Ouch, wow... That price. Yes, it's probably of high quality (awaiting better quality samples for that), but still... I think I'd rather get a Fuji X camera and that 56/1.2 here in case I hadn't already bought myself into a system. This lens is more expensive than even that lens, and then you'd get the lens for a larger sensor, a lens that is said to be sharp even wide open by La Roque and of pretty astounding quality.

Looking good for the nonflash snapshots shot in badly lit area.To those who say m43 doesn't give enough depth of field control, check this out: http://www.mu-43.com/showthread.php?t=58189 And these were shot with slower lenses.

The price should be cheaper imo, around 1000€.

Just got myself Canon FD 85mm 1.2 L for 300€. If i add the speedbooster, i can get better dof control than any APS-C dslr.

This sample, unfortunately, doesn't demonstrate a beautiful bokeh of the lens, neither tell us much about the effectiveness of its O.I.S. which together with f/1.2 aperture makes this lens unique. This lens is designed also for video, rising the question if the lens "breathe", change focal lengths slightly while racking focus? Fortunately, there are already more image galleries to argue that the lens is outstanding for both still- and video-imaging, see links here, http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/4612/panasonic-42.5mm-f1.2-and-150mm-f2.8-mft

The processing on these shots is poor. I have a hard time believing these images are representative of what this lens can do. If they are, then it is disappointing. I shoot heavily with the 25mm 1.4 and the images are absolutely beautiful.

Don't forget lighting inside these venues can be pretty poor. I would like to see some shots from some people who can control the image process from beginning to the final image display some shots. The contrast is way too hot in some images and the clarity seems to have a a veil over it. I shoot EM-1 and GH3 and if I returned and displayed shots like these to my clients it would be pretty poor.

Those folks on a full frame campaign are just bloviating. The size of the sensor or the number of megapixels will have no effect on image quality for images displayed on the web like these. I shoot 800e in my bag too, and the client would have a hard time telling what came from what camera.

I noticed that mate ... it is also out of my price bracket and needs. I don't need this kind of high degree of subject Isolation. But if I need it, I won't look any further and grab it for what it gives, I was expecting it to be in this price range.

Lens speed has a price in terms of reduced quality when compared with another of the same focal length and with a smaller aperture design. Using it strictly for the appearance of out of focus backgrounds is ok if that is all you are going to do with it but it sure limits what and how you can shoot if you want to take advantage of it.

Seems most people here concerned only with sharpness and equivalence of dof on FF. Well, it's sure sharp and has more than enough dof control, but hey, don't miss this awesome bokeh. Saw other samples with rather busy background, but bokeh was still really smooth and soft, seems 9 aperture blades do help here.

I think poor Background choices (indoor) poor lighting and just poor framing (i.e. wider than Full body shots) adds to the disappointment. 85mm "portrait" lens should not be used as a wide shot to demonstrate "DOF" or bokeh.

pdelux, wider than full body shots are not appropriate for demonstrating subject separation...as is head and shoulder shots. 85mm is used quite often for half body portraits from waist level up. Wide open this lens should demonstrate a good degree of subject isolation with that composition.

So, what do you expect exactly? If you look at the test at photozone and see how much effort went into correcting aberrations you'll understand where the price comes from. Would you spend the money on the new Nikon 58mm prime? If yes - this PanaLeica lens is in the same IQ ballpark.

You know that APS-C is closer in size to m43 than it is to FF right? I keep seeing posts by APS-C users talking about the 'tiny' sensor in m423 cameras and how they'll stick to their "huge" APS-C sensor.

f1.2 on m43 is like f1.4 and a bit on APC-S. Not sure the difference would be noticeable at any focal length.

Den Sh: You are speaking about DoF equivalence, but an aperture (in F stop) means somethong different in its original optical sense: it is a ratio between focal lenght and aperture hole size and means how is the image bright - an image of F1.2 lens on4/3 is just as bright as an image of 1.2 lens on FF.

Looks OK but nothing that makes me think I need (or want) to switch systems. I keep thinking about a lighter, more compact set-up (mirrorless). But for now, I'll keep my APS-C camera with a mirror and the lenses I have.

To be honest the Sigma 60 F2.8 looks better than these photos. With exception of the low light capability of F1.4, this is very dissappointing. I think the sample photos are not using the Focal length for its intended purpose, which is Tight Head and Shoulder shots.

Man, this must be one of the nicest image galeries I've ever seen on DPR! That lens is simply amazing. If I had a MFT camera (e.g. Pana GM1, love that little thing!) this lens would be the one I want since I'm a portrait shooter. And those images of that fork lift truck were great. Quite some DOF control!Oh yeah, almost forgot, the models were not too shabby, either....;-)

small sensor doesn't necessarily mean lower quality in low light. 4/3" should be able to compete with 35mm format with f/1.4 zooms (12-35/1.4 and 35-100/1.4) and f/0.7 primes (18/0.7, 25/0.7, and 43/0.7). someone will make them for us, Pana, Oly, Sigma, or Tamron.

but still from these shots we can see the image qualities are not good at base ISO. smaller sensor means lower quality in adequate light (same ISO means shallower wells on smaller sensors, thus more noise, lower quality).

shoot at ISO25 with a 43/0.7 lens on a 4/3" camera, when will we be able to do it?

yabokkie, I always see your posts on these MFT and APSC new lens posts taking about equivalence and stuff. And I am wondering what system you are using yourself,? are you a fan of MFT/ APSC and just think that the manufactures have to step up to the plate to match what is available on 35mm full frame?

Smaller sensor requires FASTER and SHARPER lens to make the same result, which is their inherent disadvantage (Bear in mind that m43 is still stuck at 16MP, mainly due to the lens resolution issue). Your phone may have f2.2 28mm prime lens with OIS, but that does not mean it's better than 28mm 2.8 prime for FF. Some people are just too deluded by marketing BS.

nerd2 the purpose of m43 is not to match pixel level output of FF. It is to fit the needs of its target audience. Please find out what those are and then tell us why you think it doesn't fit the bill :)

BarnET .. I love Fuji mate .. and it took me more than a month to decide if I should go for EX-2 or upgrade to GX7, also I really like its 85 equivalent 1.2, it looks good and am hopeful it will perform excellent! But I beg to differ that ThorstenMUC statement in general is not bad. Higher quality lenses generally cost and priced lot more, no matter what manufacturer you chose.

From where I am seeing things .. (from UK :)) Fuji is £999.99 and Pany/Leica is £1,299 and this is RRP! Now if tomorrow I will get a need for this portrait lens I will go for Pany and ignore the price difference. No, its not because I am rating Pany over Fuji or vice versa. It is because I don't have to buy and learn another camera and additionally the OIS will help me little further, another plus is little size and weight advantage!!

since totally different image projected on unit area of sensors of different formats, unit area is no photographic concept and is irrelevant here (we used it for chemical reasons, for film development).

from photographic point of view, we should compare areas with same image projected on them, the whole or part (say 1%) of the frame.

Is it just me - or is this "total light gathering" discussion total nonsense?

Take the lens off your camera and you can gather even more light in the body... though it doesn't make the image much better.

I'm no professional photographer - but just from a physics point of view f1.2 on FT means brighter (more low light capability) image than f2.4 on FF.

The light brightness focused on the sensor is what counts... your argument is like stating a light bulb is the same as a laser, as long as it has the same power (please don't try proving it by looking into a 60W laser!).

The amount of light per unit area is certainly relevant, since it determines exposure. When taking a photo, one usually tries to achieve a certain exposure, rather than trying to achieve an image that is equivalent in all aspects (DoF, noise, diffraction blur etc.) to an image that one would have taken with some hypothetical reference camera, with a different sensor size.

If the sample image I found on fujirumors is correct then the 56/1.2 renders the background slightly harsher, especially point light sources. Bit like the Nikon 50mm f1.4 vs 58mm f1.4 in the recent lens review.

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